Choose Hired Ops
Choose Hired Ops if you want a Massively Multiplayer and Free To Play experience. On Steam, it's free to play, so the barrier to trying it is zero. 3,904 Steam reviews back the pick.
Hired Ops vs Insurgency: Sandstorm
Hired Ops and Insurgency: Sandstorm both land in Action on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both are Action games on Steam. Insurgency: Sandstorm (2018) is 3 years older than Hired Ops (2021). Insurgency: Sandstorm scores higher on Steam reviews (86.4% positive) than Hired Ops (66.9% positive). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose Insurgency: Sandstorm
Choose Insurgency: Sandstorm if you want the Online Co-op and Co-op side of the pairing. On Steam, it carries the stronger Steam consensus at 86.4% positive across 59,257 reviews.
Both Hired Ops and Insurgency: Sandstorm sit in Action on Steam and both list Multi-player, Online PvP, and PvP, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Use the side-by-side table for the feature view, or follow the "Games like" links below to see ranked alternatives for either title.
Side-by-side comparison
 Hired Ops |  Insurgency: Sandstorm | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2021 | 2018 |
| Genres | Action, Massively Multiplayer, Free To Play | Action |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Playable | Deck Playable |
| Price | Free to play | 29.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 66.9% positive (3,904 reviews) | 86.4% positive (59,257 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer, Online Co-op |
| Developers | Absolut Soft LLC | New World Interactive |
Side by side
- Both are Action games on Steam.
- Insurgency: Sandstorm (2018) is 3 years older than Hired Ops (2021).
- Insurgency: Sandstorm scores higher on Steam reviews (86.4% positive) than Hired Ops (66.9% positive).
- Hired Ops is free; Insurgency: Sandstorm is paid (29.99 USD).
- Insurgency: Sandstorm has co-op; Hired Ops does not.
- Both are Deck Playable.
Hired Ops vs Insurgency: Sandstorm — FAQ
- Which is better, Hired Ops or Insurgency: Sandstorm?
- On Steam reviews Insurgency: Sandstorm scores higher (86.4% positive) than Hired Ops (66.9% positive). Both have enough reviews to trust the signal, so for players using reviews alone, Insurgency: Sandstorm is the safer pick. Genre fit still matters — check the side-by-side table for the categories each game lands in.
- Should I play Hired Ops or Insurgency: Sandstorm first?
- If you want chronology, Insurgency: Sandstorm (2018) came out before Hired Ops (2021). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are Hired Ops and Insurgency: Sandstorm similar?
- They overlap on Action on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.
- Is Hired Ops free?
- Yes — Hired Ops is a free-to-play Steam title. Insurgency: Sandstorm is paid (29.99 USD).